Bolton College has welcomed the new Innovation Programme Team on site to launch the Innovation Centre, now open at the College’s Deane Road Campus.
The Innovation Centre will support local businesses in adopting technologies or processes that are new to their operations, even if they are already established in the marketplace, thereby increasing productivity.
Innovation does not always mean inventing something entirely new; it can also mean finding fresh ways to use existing solutions. By redefining innovation in this way, we aim to break down barriers and invite more SMEs to join the conversation and embrace transformative changes.
The GM FE Innovation Programme builds the capacity and capability of Further Education Colleges (FECs) to increase the adoption of innovations by businesses in their locality, and to create better links between them and the City Region’s innovation ecosystem. This addresses the challenge of low productivity, and limited engagement with innovation support services in the outer areas of the City Region.
The Innovation Programme is a collaborative partnership of all nine GM FECs, which cover all 10 Boroughs of the Greater Manchester (GM) economic area.
Our Delivery Model The underpinning concept of the GM Further Education Innovation Programme is diffusion of innovation knowledge and capacity via 10 ‘Innovation Centre’ Hubs, one in each Greater Manchester borough.
This:
1. Positions Business Innovation Support in 10 Innovation Centres outside the City Region’s core, where there are lower levels of productivity and engagement with support services.
2. Increases FEC capacity and capability to promote and support business innovation in technologies, business models and processes through CPD.
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3. Maximises use of LSIF funded capital investments such as CAVEs and 3D Printers for relevant industrial application.
4. Tests whether apprentices, already employed as staff within GM SMEs and with strong FE relationships, can contribute to ‘innovation readiness’ and be agents for change in their host businesses.
5. Moves towards the ‘levelling-up’ of the GM Innovation Ecosystem
To discuss how your business can benefit from this new GM wide programme please contact Louise Dolan, Business Innovation Advisor: business.innovation@boltoncc.ac.uk